The Gulf Clan reopens dialogue with the Petro government

It is one of the most important drug gangs in the country. President Petro had assured that they “have the ball” to open new negotiations.

Twitter: @infopresidencia

The Gulf Clan -largest drug trafficking gang in Colombia- reopened dialogue with the country’s president Gustavo Petro, after a year without negotiations. This was confirmed this Tuesday through a statement authenticated by Ricardo Giraldo, Clan lawyer.

“We accept the invitation made by the president, in the sense of sitting down to negotiate the political conditions that allow social transformations,” said the Gaitanista Army of Colombia (EGC), the “official” name of the Clan. “We reiterate that we are ready to assist wherever we are told.“says the statement.

This comes in response to the statements of President Petro, who on Monday commented that the Clan “has the ball” to arrange new negotiations. “If they dare, we will open the negotiating tables,” the Head of State had declared. Since he took office in 2022, Petro has not managed to establish a negotiating table with the drug traffickers, and has cut off all communication in 2023, since it maintains that the Clan was paying illegal miners to block roads and attack public forces and civilians in the north of the country.

Likewise, Petro threatened to “destroy the Clan“, if they decide to reject the government’s invitation. According to official figures, this criminal organization has 4,000 members. For its part, the EGC insists that it be treated as a political organization, the same as guerrillas are called. who are negotiating peace with the Government. Previously, the president had offered the Clan to surrender and hand over their weapons in exchange for judicial benefits, something that was rejected by the organization.

In dialogue with Caracol Radio, lawyer Giraldo confirmed that “they (the cartel members) are not going to submit“, because They consider themselves a political organization. According to some local media, the Clan del Golfo is blocking roads near the municipality of Tierralta (northwest of the country), where Petro is expected to attend a public event.

Currently, Colombia is the main producer of cocaine in the world. According to some official calculations, the Gulf Clan traffics abroad about 700 tons of cocaine annually, in addition to being linked to illegal mining and migrant trafficking on the border with Panama through the Darién jungle, something denied by the group’s leaders. For his part, his boss, known as Otoniel, was captured in October 2021 and extradited to the United States in May of the following year.